The Blue Devils (1-2), were coming off a 58-48 loss against St. Ignace Thursday.

"Our effort was much better today," Sault High coach Bill Schomberg said. "Our defense was pretty good, but they killed us on the boards. We worked hard to defend and then we always seemed to give up that big rebound, and that kept us from making a good run."

Marquette junior center Vejas Grazulis scored a career-best 19 points to lead four players in double figures for the Redmen (3-0), who may be the U.P.'s top Class ABC team. Bradley Brow scored 18 points, while Larry Burnette and Connor Brazeau added 10 points each for the Redmen.

The Blue Devils fell behind by 10 points in the first quarter and they trailed by that margin most of the rest of the way. Marquette led 37-32 at halftime and extended the advantage to as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter.

The Redmen were coming off a 51-40 win over Negaunee Thursday.

"We've had a tough week with three games," Marquette coach Brad Nelson said. "I was worried that we would have bus legs after the three hour drive, and we were sluggish at times. But I was pretty happy with the way our team responded in the second half to pull out a good win on the road."

"This was his breakout game," Nelson said. "He wasn't as confident and we only had him in about 15 minutes against Negaunee. Today he was going strong to the basket and he was more physical."

The Blue Devils played their second game without starting senior guard Michael James, who is out with an ankle injury. Houghton, a sophomore guard, came off the bench to provide a spark in the second half.

"Jordan is starting to mature as a player," Schomberg said. "Our younger players don't have much varsity experience and they are learning what it takes."

Marquette defeated Sault High 58-51 in the JV game. Jordan Fountain led the JV Blue Devils with 17 points, while Cliff Milam turned in seven rebounds.